San Leandro: Second man charged in fatal armored car robbery; both suspects are former colleagues of homicide victim, police say

OAKLAND — Authorities now believe two former GardaWorld armored truck service employees conspired to rob one of their former colleagues, resulting in a Sept. 7 shooting that left a 60-year-old employee dead.

Artemio Torres, 27, has now been charged with collaborating with Akbar Bey, also 27, to rob the GardaWorld truck at the Kaiser Building in San Leandro. Authorities say Bey, who was arrested in October on murder charges, shot his former colleague John Mendez in the back of the head during the robbery before making off with thousands of cash.

According to police, Torres fled the state after the robbery and traveled to Ohio and Indiana. His whereabouts are still unknown.

According to police, Torres is on the Oakland resident list, but has ties to the Vacaville area. His girlfriend was also arrested during the murder investigation, but was released after police determined she had been tricked into helping them after the crime and was unaware of their alleged involvement.

Both Torres and Bey were fired from GardaWorld after allegations surfaced that they were embezzling money, police said in court documents. Bey is in Santa Rita Jail without bail. He has pleaded not guilty.

Police linked Torres to the crime based on cell phone records and because Bey reportedly encountered Torres’ black Honda and fled the area immediately after the shooting. In a likely statement, authorities also claimed that Bey and Torres monitored the truck drop-offs in anticipation of the robbery.

According to court documents, Bey and Mendez were partners before Bey left the company.

The shooting was one of two armored car homicides to occur in the East Bay within a 30-day span, the other being a September 23 incident in Oakland where four men allegedly attempted to rob a Brinks truck. In that shooting, a Brinks associate killed one of the suspected robbers and injured another, before being shot by one of the robbers, police say. The Brinks employee survived and a Vallejo man was arrested and charged with murder.